Fine-Tuning Healthcare AI Models: Custom Segmentation for Your Healthcare Data
This post is part of our healthcare AI fine-tuning series: MedImageInsight Fine-Tuning - Embeddings and classification MedImageParse Fine-Tuning - Segmentation and spatial understanding (you are here) CXRReportGen Fine-Tuning - Clinical findings generation Introduction MedImageParse now supports fine-tuning, allowing you to adapt Microsoft’s open-source biomedical foundation model to your healthcare use cases and data. Adapting this model can take as little as an hour to add new segmentation targets, add new modalities or boost performance significantly on your data. We’ll demonstrate how we achieved large performance gains across multiple metrics on a public dataset. Biomedical clinical apps often need highly specialized models, but training one from scratch is expensive and data-intensive. Traditional approaches require thousands of annotated images, weeks of compute time, and deep machine learning expertise just to get started. Fine-tuning offers a practical alternative. By starting with a strong foundation model and adapting it to your specific domain, you can achieve production-ready performance with hundreds of examples and hours of training time. Everything you need to start finetuning is available now, including a ready-to-use AzureML pipeline, complete workflow notebooks, and deployment capabilities. We fine-tuned MedImageParse on the CDD-CESM mammography dataset (specialized CESM modality for lesion segmentation) to demonstrate domain adaptation on data under‑represented in pre-training. Follow along: The complete example is in our GitHub repository as a ready-to-run notebook. What is MedImageParse? MedImageParse (MIP) is Microsoft’s open-source implementation of BiomedParse that comes with a permissive MIT license and is designed for integration into commercial products. It is a powerful and flexible foundation model for text-prompted medical imaging segmentation. MIP accepts an image and one or more prompts (e.g. “neoplastic cells in breast pathology” or “inflammatory cells,”) then accurately identifies and segments the corresponding structures within the input image. Trained on a wide range of biomedical imaging datasets and tasks, MIP captures robust feature representations that are highly transferrable to new domains. Furthermore, it operates efficiently on a single GPU, making it a practical tool for research laboratories without extensive computational resources. Built with adaptability in mind, the model can be fine-tuned using your own datasets to refine segmentation targets, accommodate unique imaging modalities, or improve performance on local data distributions. Its modest computational footprint, paired with this flexibility, positions MIP as a strong starting point for custom medical imaging solutions. When to Fine-tune (and When NOT to) Fine-tuning can transform MedImageParse into your own clinical asset that's aligned with your institution’s needs. But how do you know if that’s the right approach for your use case? Fine-tuning makes sense when you’re working with specialized imaging protocols (custom equipment or acquisition parameters), rare structures not well-represented in general datasets, or when you need high precision for quantitative analysis. You’ll need some high-quality annotated examples to see meaningful improvements; more is better, but thousands aren’t required. Simpler approaches might work instead if the pre-trained model already performs reasonably well on standard anatomies and common pathologies. If you’re still in exploratory mode figuring out what to measure, start with the base model first to establish a strong baseline for your use case. Our example shows how fine-tuning can deliver significant performance gains even with modest resources. With about one hour of GPU time and 200-500 annotated images, fine-tuning showed a significant improvement across multiple metrics. The Fine-tuning Pipeline: From Data to Deployed Model To demonstrate fine-tuning in action, we used the CDD-CESM mammography dataset: a collection of Contrast-Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM) images with expert-annotated breast lesion masks. CESM is a specialized imaging modality that wasn’t well represented in MedImageParse’s original training data. The dataset 1 (can be downloaded from our HuggingFace location or from its original TCIA page) includes predefined splits with high-quality segmentation annotations. Why AzureML Pipelines? Before diving into the workflow, it’s worth understanding why we use AzureML pipelines for this process. Every experiment is tracked with full versioning; you always know exactly what you ran and can reproduce results months later. The pipeline handles multi-GPU distribution automatically without code changes, making it easy to scale up. The modular design lets you mix and match components for your specific needs, swap data preprocessing, adjust training parameters, or change deployment strategies independently. Training metrics, validation curves, and resource utilization are logged automatically, giving you full visibility into the process. Learn more about Azure ML pipelines. Fine-Tuning Workflow Setup: Upload data and configure compute The first step uploads your training data and configuration to AzureML as versioned assets. You’ll configure a GPU compute cluster (H100 or A100 instances recommended) that will handle the training workload. # Create and upload training data folder training_data = Data( path="CDD-CESM", type=AssetTypes.URI_FOLDER, description=f"{name} training data", name=f"{name}-training_data", ) training_data = ml_client.data.create_or_update(training_data) # Create and upload parameters file parameters = Data( path="parameters.yaml", type=AssetTypes.URI_FILE, description=f"{name} parameters", name=f"{name}-parameters", ) parameters = ml_client.data.create_or_update(parameters) Fine-tuning: The medimageparse_finetune component The fine-tuning component takes three inputs: The pre-trained MedImageParse model (foundation weights) Your annotated dataset Training configuration (learning rate, batch size, augmentation settings) During training the pipeline applies augmentation, tracks validation metrics, and checkpoints periodically. The output is an MLflow-packaged model, a portable artifact that includes the model weights, preprocessing code that is ready to deploy in AzureML or AI Foundry. The pipeline uses parameter-efficient fine-tuning techniques to adapt the model while preserving the broad knowledge from pre-training. This means you get specialized performance without catastrophic forgetting of the base model’s capabilities. # Get the pipeline component finetune_pipeline_component = ml_registry.components.get( name="medimageparse_finetune", label="latest" ) # Get the latest MIP model model = ml_registry.models.get(name="MedImageParse", label="latest") # Create the pipeline @pipeline(name="medimageparse_finetuning" + str(random.randint(0, 100000))) def create_pipeline(): mip_pipeline = finetune_pipeline_component( pretrained_mlflow_model=model.id, data=data_assets["training_data"].id, config=data_assets["parameters"].id, ) return {"mlflow_model_folder": mip_pipeline.outputs.mlflow_model_folder} # Submit the pipeline pipeline_object = create_pipeline() pipeline_object.compute = compute.name pipeline_object.settings.continue_on_step_failure = False pipeline_job = ml_client.jobs.create_or_update( pipeline_object, experiment_name="medimageparse_finetune_experiment" ) Deployment: Register and serve the model After training, the model can be registered in your AzureML workspace with version tracking. From there, deployment to a managed online endpoint takes a single command. The endpoint provides a scalable REST API backed by GPU compute for optimal inference performance. # Register the Model run_model = Model( path=f"azureml://jobs/{pipeline_job.name}/outputs/mlflow_model_folder", name=f"MIP-{name}-{pipeline_job.name}", description="Model created from run.", type=AssetTypes.MLFLOW_MODEL, ) run_model = ml_client.models.create_or_update(run_model) # Create endpoint and deployment with the classification model endpoint = ManagedOnlineEndpoint(name=name) endpoint = ml_client.online_endpoints.begin_create_or_update(endpoint).result() deployment = ManagedOnlineDeployment( name=name, endpoint_name=endpoint.name, model=run_model.id, instance_type="Standard_NC40ads_H100_v5", instance_count=1, ) deployment = ml_client.online_deployments.begin_create_or_update(deployment).result( Testing: Text-prompted inference With the endpoint deployed, you can send test images along with text prompts describing what to segment. For the CDD-CESM example, we use text prompts: “neoplastic cells in breast pathology & inflammatory cells”. The model returns multiple segmentation masks for different detected regions. Text-prompting lets you switch focus on the fly (e.g., “tumor boundary” vs. “inflammatory infiltration”) without retraining or reconfiguring the model. Results Fine-tuning made a huge difference in how well the model works. The Dice Score, which shows how closely the model’s results match the actual regions, more than doubled, from 0.198 to 0.486. The IoU, another measure of overlap, nearly tripled, going from 0.139 to 0.383. Sensitivity jumped from 0.251 to 0.535, which means the model found more real positives. Metric Base Fine-tuned Δ Abs Δ Rel Dice (F1) 0.198 0.486 +0.288 +145% IoU 0.139 0.383 +0.244 +176% Sensitivity 0.251 0.535 +0.284 +113% Specificity 0.971 0.987 +0.016 +1.6% Accuracy 0.936 0.963 +0.027 +2.9% These improvements really matter in practice. When the Dice and IoU scores go up, it means the model is better at outlining the exact shape and size of problem areas, which helps doctors get more accurate measurements and track changes over time. The jump in sensitivity means the model is finding more actual lesions, while keeping specificity above 98% makes sure there aren’t a lot of false alarms. The improvement accuracy is impressive, but the more significant upgrades in overlap and recall are most impressive and matter most for getting precise results in medical images. Try It on Your Own Data To successfully implement this solution in your organization, focus first on the core requirements and resources that will ensure a seamless transition. The following section outlines these essential steps so you can move efficiently from planning to deployment and set your team up for optimal results. Dataset size: Start with 200-500 annotated images. This is enough to see meaningful performance improvements without requiring massive data collection efforts. More data generally helps, but you don’t need thousands of examples to get started. Annotation quality: High-quality segmentation masks are critical. Invest in precise boundary delineations (pixel-level accuracy where possible), consistent annotation protocols across all images, and quality control reviews to catch and correct errors. Annotation effort: Budget enough time per image for careful annotation. Apply active learning approaches to focus effort on the most informative samples and start with a smaller pilot dataset (100-150 images) to validate the approach before scaling up. Training compute: A100 or H100 recommended (one device with multiple GPUs is sufficient for a few hundred image runs). For the CDD-CESM dataset, we used NC-series VMs (single-node) with 8 GPUs and training on 300 images took around 30 minutes for 10 epochs. If you’re training on larger datasets (thousands of images), consider upgrading to ND-series VMs, which offer better multi-node performance and allow you to train on large volumes of data faster. Where to Go from Here? So, what does this mean for your workflows and clinical teams? Foundation models like MedImageParse provide significant power and performance. They’re flexible with text-prompted multi-task capabilities that can integrate into existing workflows without retooling and are relatively cheap to use for inference. This means faster review, more precise assessments, and independence from vendor development timelines. But these models are not adapted to your institution and use cases out of the box, but developing a foundation model from scratch is prohibitively expensive. Fine-tuning bridges that gap: you can boost performance on your data and adapt it to your use case at a fraction of the cost. You control what the model learns, how it fits your workflow, and its validation for your context. We’ve provided the complete tools to do that: the fine-tuning notebook walks through the entire process, from data preparation to deployment. By following this workflow and collecting annotated data from your institution (see “Try It on Your Own Data” above for requirements), you can deploy MedImageParse tailored to your institution and use cases. References Khaled R., Helal M., Alfarghaly O., Mokhtar O., Elkorany A., El Kassas H., Fahmy A. Categorized Digital Database for Low energy and Subtracted Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography images [Dataset]. (2021) The Cancer Imaging Archive. DOI: 10.7937/29kw-ae92 https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/collection/cdd-cesm/Fine-Tuning Language Models with Azure AI Foundry: A Detailed Guide
What is Azure AI Foundry? Azure AI Foundry is a comprehensive platform designed to simplify the development, deployment, and management of AI models. It provides a user-friendly interface and powerful tools that enable developers to create custom AI solutions without needing extensive machine learning expertise. Key Features of Azure AI Foundry One-Button Fine-Tuning: A streamlined process that allows users to fine-tune models with minimal configuration. Integration with Development Tools: Seamless integration with popular development environments, particularly Visual Studio Code. Support for Multiple Models: Access to a variety of pre-trained models, including the Phi family of models. Understanding Fine-Tuning Fine-tuning is the process of taking a pre-trained model and adapting it to a specific dataset or task. This is particularly useful when the base model has been trained on a large corpus of general data but needs to perform well on a narrower domain. Why Fine-Tune? Improved Performance: Fine-tuning can significantly enhance the model's accuracy and relevance for specific tasks. Reduced Training Time: Starting with a pre-trained model reduces the amount of data and time required for training. Customization: Tailor the model to meet the unique needs of your application or business. One-Button Fine-Tuning in Azure AI Foundry Step-by-Step Process Select the Model: Log in to Azure AI Foundry and navigate to the model selection interface. Choose Phi-3 or another small language model from the available options. Prepare Your Data: Ensure your dataset is formatted correctly. Typically, this involves having a set of input-output pairs that the model can learn from. Upload your dataset to Azure AI Foundry. The platform supports various data formats, making it easy to integrate your existing data. Initiate Fine-Tuning: Locate the one-button fine-tuning feature within the Azure AI Foundry interface. Click the button to start the fine-tuning process. The platform will handle the configuration and setup automatically. Monitor Progress: After initiating fine-tuning, you can monitor the process through the Azure portal. The portal provides real-time updates on training metrics, allowing you to track the model's performance as it learns. Evaluate the Model: Once fine-tuning is complete, evaluate the model's performance using a validation dataset. Azure AI Foundry provides tools for assessing accuracy, precision, recall, and other relevant metrics. Deploy the Model: After successful evaluation, you can deploy the fine-tuned model directly from Azure AI Foundry. The platform supports various deployment options, including REST APIs and integration with other Azure services. Using the AI Toolkit in Visual Studio Code Overview of the AI Toolkit The AI Toolkit for Visual Studio Code enhances the development experience by providing tools specifically designed for AI model management and fine-tuning. This integration allows developers to work within a familiar environment while leveraging powerful AI capabilities. Key Features of the AI Toolkit 1) Model Management: Easily manage and switch between different models, including Phi-3 and Ollama models. 2) Data Handling: Simplified data upload and preprocessing tools to prepare datasets for training. 3) Real-Time Collaboration: Collaborate with team members in real-time, sharing insights and progress on AI projects. How to Use the AI Toolkit 1) Install the AI Toolkit: Open Visual Studio Code and navigate to the Extensions Marketplace. Search for "AI Toolkit" and install the extension. 2) Connect to Azure AI Foundry: Once installed, configure the toolkit to connect to your Azure AI Foundry account. This will allow you to access your models and datasets directly from Visual Studio Code. 3) Fine-Tune Models: Use the toolkit to initiate fine-tuning processes directly from your development environment. Monitor training progress and view logs without leaving Visual Studio Code. 4) Consume Ollama Models: The AI Toolkit supports the consumption of Ollama models, providing additional flexibility in your AI projects. This feature allows you to integrate various models seamlessly, enhancing your application's capabilities. Microsoft ONNX Live for Fine-Tuning What is Microsoft ONNX Live? Microsoft ONNX Live is a platform that allows developers to deploy and optimize AI models using the Open Neural Network Exchange (ONNX) format. ONNX is an open-source format that enables interoperability between different AI frameworks, making it easier to deploy models across various environments. Key Features of Microsoft ONNX Live Model Optimization: ONNX Live provides tools to optimize models for performance, ensuring they run efficiently in production environments. Cross-Framework Compatibility: Models trained in different frameworks (like PyTorch or TensorFlow) can be converted to ONNX format, allowing for greater flexibility in deployment. Real-Time Inference: ONNX Live supports real-time inference, enabling applications to utilize AI models for immediate predictions. Fine-Tuning with ONNX Live Model Conversion: If you have a model trained in a different framework, you can convert it to ONNX format using tools provided by Microsoft. This conversion allows you to leverage the benefits of ONNX Live for deployment and optimization. Integration with Azure AI Foundry: Once your model is in ONNX format, you can integrate it with Azure AI Foundry for fine-tuning. The one-button fine-tuning feature can be used to adapt the ONNX model to your specific dataset. Optimization Techniques: After fine-tuning, you can apply various optimization techniques available in ONNX Live to enhance the model's performance. Techniques such as quantization and pruning can significantly reduce the model size and improve inference speed. Deployment: Once optimized, the model can be deployed directly from Azure AI Foundry or ONNX Live. This deployment can be done as a REST API, allowing easy integration with web applications and services. Additional Resources To further enhance your understanding and capabilities in fine-tuning language models, consider exploring the following resources: Phi-3 Cookbook: This comprehensive guide provides insights into getting started with Phi models, including best practices for fine-tuning and deployment. Explore the Phi-3 Cookbook. Ignite Fine-Tuning Workshop: This workshop offers a hands-on approach to learning about fine-tuning techniques and tools. It includes real-world scenarios to help you understand the practical applications of fine-tuning. Visit the GitHub Repository. Conclusion Fine-tuning language models like Phi-3 using Azure AI Foundry, combined with the AI Toolkit in Visual Studio Code and Microsoft ONNX Live, provides a powerful and efficient workflow for developers. The one-button fine-tuning feature simplifies the process, while the integration with ONNX Live allows for optimization and deployment flexibility. By leveraging these tools, you can enhance your AI applications, ensuring they are tailored to meet specific needs and perform optimally in production environments. Whether you are a seasoned AI developer or just starting, Azure AI Foundry and its associated tools offer a robust ecosystem for building and deploying advanced AI solutions. References Microsoft Docs Links Fine-Tuning Models in Azure OpenAI Azure AI Services Documentation Azure Machine Learning Documentation Microsoft Learn Links Develop Generative AI Apps in Azure Fine-Tune a Language Model Azure AI Foundry Overview Get started with AI Toolkit for Visual Studio CodeFine-Tuning and Deploying Phi-3.5 Model with Azure and AI Toolkit
What is Phi-3.5? Phi-3.5 as a state-of-the-art language model with strong multilingual capabilities. Emphasize that it is designed to handle multiple languages with high proficiency, making it a versatile tool for Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks across different linguistic backgrounds. Key Features of Phi-3.5 Highlight the core features of the Phi-3.5 model: Multilingual Capabilities: Explain that the model supports a wide variety of languages, including major world languages such as English, Spanish, Chinese, French, and others. You can provide an example of its ability to handle a sentence or document translation from one language to another without losing context or meaning. Fine-Tuning Ability: Discuss how the model can be fine-tuned for specific use cases. For instance, in a customer support setting, the Phi-3.5 model can be fine-tuned to understand the nuances of different languages used by customers across the globe, improving response accuracy. High Performance in NLP Tasks: Phi-3.5 is optimized for tasks like text classification, machine translation, summarization, and more. It has superior performance in handling large-scale datasets and producing coherent, contextually correct language outputs. Applications in Real-World Scenarios To make this section more engaging, provide a few real-world applications where the Phi-3.5 model can be utilized: Customer Support Chatbots: For companies with global customer bases, the model’s multilingual support can enhance chatbot capabilities, allowing for real-time responses in a customer’s native language, no matter where they are located. Content Creation for Global Markets: Discuss how businesses can use Phi-3.5 to automatically generate or translate content for different regions. For example, marketing copy can be adapted to fit cultural and linguistic nuances in multiple languages. Document Summarization Across Languages: Highlight how the model can be used to summarize long documents or articles written in one language and then translate the summary into another language, improving access to information for non-native speakers. Why Choose Phi-3.5 for Your Project? End this section by emphasizing why someone should use Phi-3.5: Versatility: It’s not limited to just one or two languages but performs well across many. Customization: The ability to fine-tune it for particular use cases or industries makes it highly adaptable. Ease of Deployment: With tools like Azure ML and Ollama, deploying Phi-3.5 in the cloud or locally is accessible even for smaller teams. Objective Of Blog Specialized Language Models (SLMs) are at the forefront of advancements in Natural Language Processing, offering fine-tuned, high-performance solutions for specific tasks and languages. Among these, the Phi-3.5 model has emerged as a powerful tool, excelling in its multilingual capabilities. Whether you're working with English, Spanish, Mandarin, or any other major world language, Phi-3.5 offers robust, reliable language processing that adapts to various real-world applications. This makes it an ideal choice for businesses looking to deploy multilingual chatbots, automate content generation, or translate customer interactions in real time. Moreover, its fine-tuning ability allows for customization, making Phi-3.5 versatile across industries and tasks. Customization and Fine-Tuning for Different Applications The Phi-3.5 model is not just limited to general language understanding tasks. It can be fine-tuned for specific applications, industries, and language models, allowing users to tailor its performance to meet their needs. Customizable for Industry-Specific Use Cases: With fine-tuning, the model can be trained further on domain-specific data to handle particular use cases like legal document translation, medical records analysis, or technical support. Example: A healthcare company can fine-tune Phi-3.5 to understand medical terminology in multiple languages, enabling it to assist in processing patient records or generating multilingual health reports. Adapting for Specialized Tasks: You can train Phi-3.5 to perform specialized tasks like sentiment analysis, text summarization, or named entity recognition in specific languages. Fine-tuning helps enhance the model's ability to handle unique text formats or requirements. Example: A marketing team can fine-tune the model to analyse customer feedback in different languages to identify trends or sentiment across various regions. The model can quickly classify feedback as positive, negative, or neutral, even in less widely spoken languages like Arabic or Korean. Applications in Real-World Scenarios To illustrate the versatility of Phi-3.5, here are some real-world applications where this model excels, demonstrating its multilingual capabilities and customization potential: Case Study 1: Multilingual Customer Support Chatbots Many global companies rely on chatbots to handle customer queries in real-time. With Phi-3.5’s multilingual abilities, businesses can deploy a single model that understands and responds in multiple languages, cutting down on the need to create language-specific chatbots. Example: A global airline can use Phi-3.5 to power its customer service bot. Passengers from different countries can inquire about their flight status or baggage policies in their native languages—whether it's Japanese, Hindi, or Portuguese—and the model responds accurately in the appropriate language. Case Study 2: Multilingual Content Generation Phi-3.5 is also useful for businesses that need to generate content in different languages. For example, marketing campaigns often require creating region-specific ads or blog posts in multiple languages. Phi-3.5 can help automate this process by generating localized content that is not just translated but adapted to fit the cultural context of the target audience. Example: An international cosmetics brand can use Phi-3.5 to automatically generate product descriptions for different regions. Instead of merely translating a product description from English to Spanish, the model can tailor the description to fit cultural expectations, using language that resonates with Spanish-speaking audiences. Case Study 3: Document Translation and Summarization Phi-3.5 can be used to translate or summarize complex documents across languages. Its ability to preserve meaning and context across languages makes it ideal for industries where accuracy is crucial, such as legal or academic fields. Example: A legal firm working on cross-border cases can use Phi-3.5 to translate contracts or legal briefs from German to English, ensuring the context and legal terminology are accurately preserved. It can also summarize lengthy documents in multiple languages, saving time for legal teams. Fine-Tuning Phi-3.5 Model Fine-tuning a language model like Phi-3.5 is a crucial step in adapting it to perform specific tasks or cater to specific domains. This section will walk through what fine-tuning is, its importance in NLP, and how to fine-tune the Phi-3.5 model using Azure Model Catalog for different languages and tasks. We'll also explore a code example and best practices for evaluating and validating the fine-tuned model. What is Fine-Tuning? Fine-tuning refers to the process of taking a pre-trained model and adapting it to a specific task or dataset by training it further on domain-specific data. In the context of NLP, fine-tuning is often required to ensure that the language model understands the nuances of a particular language, industry-specific terminology, or a specific use case. Why Fine-Tuning is Necessary Pre-trained Large Language Models (LLMs) are trained on diverse datasets and can handle various tasks like text summarization, generation, and question answering. However, they may not perform optimally in specialized domains without fine-tuning. The goal of fine-tuning is to enhance the model's performance on specific tasks by leveraging its prior knowledge while adapting it to new contexts. Challenges of Fine-Tuning Resource Intensiveness: Fine-tuning large models can be computationally expensive, requiring significant hardware resources. Storage Costs: Each fine-tuned model can be large, leading to increased storage needs when deploying multiple models for different tasks. LoRA and QLoRA To address these challenges, techniques like LoRA (Low-rank Adaptation) and QLoRA (Quantized Low-rank Adaptation) have emerged. Both methods aim to make the fine-tuning process more efficient: LoRA: This technique reduces the number of trainable parameters by introducing low-rank matrices into the model while keeping the original model weights frozen. This approach minimizes memory usage and speeds up the fine-tuning process. QLoRA: An enhancement of LoRA, QLoRA incorporates quantization techniques to further reduce memory requirements and increase the efficiency of the fine-tuning process. It allows for the deployment of large models on consumer hardware without the extensive resource demands typically associated with full fine-tuning. from transformers import AutoModelForSequenceClassification, Trainer, TrainingArguments from peft import get_peft_model, LoraConfig # Load a pre-trained model model = AutoModelForSequenceClassification.from_pretrained("bert-base-uncased") # Configure LoRA lora_config = LoraConfig( r=16, # Rank lora_alpha=32, lora_dropout=0.1, ) # Wrap the model with LoRA model = get_peft_model(model, lora_config) # Define training arguments training_args = TrainingArguments( output_dir="./results", evaluation_strategy="epoch", learning_rate=2e-5, per_device_train_batch_size=16, per_device_eval_batch_size=16, num_train_epochs=3, ) # Create a Trainer trainer = Trainer( model=model, args=training_args, train_dataset=train_dataset, eval_dataset=eval_dataset, ) # Start fine-tuning trainer.train() This code outlines how to set up a model for fine-tuning using LoRA, which can significantly reduce the resource requirements while still adapting the model effectively to specific tasks. In summary, fine-tuning with methods like LoRA and QLoRA is essential for optimizing pre-trained models for specific applications in NLP, making it feasible to deploy these powerful models in various domains efficiently. Why is Fine-Tuning Important in NLP? Task-Specific Performance: Fine-tuning helps improve performance for tasks like text classification, machine translation, or sentiment analysis in specific domains (e.g., legal, healthcare). Language-Specific Adaptation: Since models like Phi-3.5 are trained on general datasets, fine-tuning helps them handle industry-specific jargon or linguistic quirks. Efficient Resource Utilization: Instead of training a model from scratch, fine-tuning leverages pre-trained knowledge, saving computational resources and time. Steps to Fine-Tune Phi-3.5 in Azure AI Foundry Fine-tuning the Phi-3.5 model in Azure AI Foundry involves several key steps. Azure provides a user-friendly interface to streamline model customization, allowing you to quickly configure, train, and deploy models. Step 1: Setting Up the Environment in Azure AI Foundry Access Azure AI Foundry: Log in to Azure AI Foundry. If you don’t have an account, you can create one and set up a workspace. Create a New Experiment: Once in the Azure AI Foundry, create a new training experiment. Choose the Phi-3.5 model from the pre-trained models provided in the Azure Model Zoo. Set Up the Data for Fine-Tuning: Upload your custom dataset for fine-tuning. Ensure the dataset is in a compatible format (e.g., CSV, JSON). For instance, if you are fine-tuning the model for a customer service chatbot, you could upload customer queries in different languages. Step 2: Configure Fine-Tuning Settings Select the Training Dataset: Select the dataset you uploaded and link it to the Phi-3.5 model. 2) Configure the Hyperparameters: Set up training hyperparameters like the number of epochs, learning rate, and batch size. You may need to experiment with these settings to achieve optimal performance. 3) Choose the Task Type: Specify the task you are fine-tuning for, such as text classification, translation, or summarization. This helps Azure AI Foundry understand how to optimize the model during fine-tuning. 4) Fine-Tuning for Specific Languages: If you are fine-tuning for a specific language or multilingual tasks, ensure that the dataset is labeled appropriately and contains enough examples in the target language(s). This will allow Phi-3.5 to learn language-specific features effectively. Step 3: Train the Model Launch the Training Process: Once the configuration is complete, launch the training process in Azure AI Foundry. Depending on the size of your dataset and the complexity of the model, this could take some time. Monitor Training Progress: Use Azure AI Foundry’s built-in monitoring tools to track performance metrics such as loss, accuracy, and F1 score. You can view the model’s progress during training to ensure that it is learning effectively. Code Example: Fine-Tuning Phi-3.5 for a Specific Use Case Here's a code snippet for fine-tuning the Phi-3.5 model using Python and Azure AI Foundry SDK. In this example, we are fine-tuning the model for a customer support chatbot in multiple languages. from azure.ai import Foundry from azure.ai.model import Model # Initialize Azure AI Foundry foundry = Foundry() # Load the Phi-3.5 model model = Model.load("phi-3.5") # Set up the training dataset training_data = foundry.load_dataset("customer_queries_dataset") # Fine-tune the model model.fine_tune(training_data, epochs=5, learning_rate=0.001) # Save the fine-tuned model model.save("fine_tuned_phi_3.5") Best Practices for Evaluating and Validating Fine-Tuned Models Once the model is fine-tuned, it's essential to evaluate and validate its performance before deploying it in production. Split Data for Validation: Always split your dataset into training and validation sets. This ensures that the model is evaluated on unseen data to prevent overfitting. Evaluate Key Metrics: Measure performance using key metrics such as: Accuracy: The proportion of correct predictions. F1 Score: A measure of precision and recall. Confusion Matrix: Helps visualize true vs. false predictions for classification tasks. Cross-Language Validation: If the model is fine-tuned for multiple languages, test its performance across all supported languages to ensure consistency and accuracy. Test in Production-Like Environments: Before full deployment, test the fine-tuned model in a production-like environment to catch any potential issues. Continuous Monitoring and Re-Fine-Tuning: Once deployed, continuously monitor the model’s performance and re-fine-tune it periodically as new data becomes available. Deploying Phi-3.5 Model After fine-tuning the Phi-3.5 model, the next crucial step is deploying it to make it accessible for real-world applications. This section will cover two key deployment strategies: deploying in Azure for cloud-based scaling and reliability, and deploying locally with AI Toolkit for simpler offline usage. Each deployment strategy offers its own advantages depending on the use case. Deploying in Azure Azure provides a powerful environment for deploying machine learning models at scale, enabling organizations to deploy models like Phi-3.5 with high availability, scalability, and robust security features. Azure AI Foundry simplifies the entire deployment pipeline. Set Up Azure AI Foundry Workspace: Log in to Azure AI Foundry and navigate to the workspace where the Phi-3.5 model was fine-tuned. Go to the Deployments section and create a new deployment environment for the model. Choose Compute Resources: Compute Target: Select a compute target suitable for your deployment. For large-scale usage, it’s advisable to choose a GPU-based compute instance. Example: Choose an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster for handling large-scale requests efficiently. Configure Scaling Options: Azure allows you to set up auto-scaling based on traffic. This ensures that the model can handle surges in demand without affecting performance. Model Deployment Configuration: Create an Inference Pipeline: In Azure AI Foundry, set up an inference pipeline for your model. Specify the Model: Link the fine-tuned Phi-3.5 model to the deployment pipeline. Deploy the Model: Select the option to deploy the model to the chosen compute resource. Test the Deployment: Once the model is deployed, test the endpoint by sending sample requests to verify the predictions. Configuration Steps (Compute, Resources, Scaling) During deployment, Azure AI Foundry allows you to configure essential aspects like compute type, resource allocation, and scaling options. Compute Type: Choose between CPU or GPU clusters depending on the computational intensity of the model. Resource Allocation: Define the minimum and maximum resources to be allocated for the deployment. For real-time applications, use Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for high availability. For batch inference, Azure Container Instances (ACI) is suitable. Auto-Scaling: Set up automatic scaling of the compute instances based on the number of requests. For example, configure the deployment to start with 1 node and scale to 10 nodes during peak usage. Cost Comparison: Phi-3.5 vs. Larger Language Models When comparing the costs of using Phi-3.5 with larger language models (LLMs), several factors come into play, including computational resources, pricing structures, and performance efficiency. Here’s a breakdown: Cost Efficiency Phi-3.5: Designed as a Small Language Model (SLM), Phi-3.5 is optimized for lower computational costs. It offers competitive performance at a fraction of the cost of larger models, making it suitable for budget-conscious projects. The smaller size (3.8 billion parameters) allows for reduced resource consumption during both training and inference. Larger Language Models (e.g., GPT-3.5): Typically require more computational resources, leading to higher operational costs. Larger models may incur additional costs for storage and processing power, especially in cloud environments. Performance vs. Cost Performance Parity: Phi-3.5 has been shown to achieve performance parity with larger models on various benchmarks, including language comprehension and reasoning tasks. This means that for many applications, Phi-3.5 can deliver similar results to larger models without the associated costs. Use Case Suitability: For simpler tasks or applications that do not require extensive factual knowledge, Phi-3.5 is often the more cost-effective choice. Larger models may still be preferred for complex tasks requiring deep contextual understanding or extensive factual recall. Pricing Structure Azure Pricing: Phi-3.5 is available through Azure with a pay-as-you-go billing model, allowing users to scale costs based on usage. Pricing details for Phi-3.5 can be found on the Azure pricing page, where users can customize options based on their needs. Code Example: API Setup and Endpoints for Live Interaction Below is a Python code snippet demonstrating how to interact with a deployed Phi-3.5 model via an API in Azure: import requests # Define the API endpoint and your API key api_url = "https://<your-azure-endpoint>/predict" api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY" # Prepare the input data input_data = { "text": "What are the benefits of renewable energy?" } # Make the API request response = requests.post(api_url, json=input_data, headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"}) # Print the model's response if response.status_code == 200: print("Model Response:", response.json()) else: print("Error:", response.status_code, response.text) Deploying Locally with AI Toolkit For developers who prefer to run models on their local machines, the AI Toolkit provides a convenient solution. The AI Toolkit is a lightweight platform that simplifies local deployment of AI models, allowing for offline usage, experimentation, and rapid prototyping. Deploying the Phi-3.5 model locally using the AI Toolkit is straightforward and can be used for personal projects, testing, or scenarios where cloud access is limited. Introduction to AI Toolkit The AI Toolkit is an easy-to-use platform for deploying language models locally without relying on cloud infrastructure. It supports a range of AI models and enables developers to work in a low-latency environment. Advantages of deploying locally with AI Toolkit: Offline Capability: No need for continuous internet access. Quick Experimentation: Rapid prototyping and testing without the delays of cloud deployments. Setup Guide: Installing and Running Phi-3.5 Locally Using AI Toolkit Install AI Toolkit: Go to the AI Toolkit website and download the platform for your operating system (Linux, macOS, or Windows). Install AI Toolkit by running the appropriate installation command in your terminal. Download the Phi-3.5 Model: Once AI Toolkit is installed, you can download the Phi-3.5 model locally by running: 3. Run the Model Locally: After downloading the model, start a local session by running: This will launch a local server on your machine where the model will be available for interaction. Code Example: Using Phi-3.5 Locally in a Project Below is a Python code example demonstrating how to send a query to the locally deployed Phi-3.5 model running on the AI Toolkit. import requests # Define the local endpoint local_url = "http://localhost:8000/predict" # Prepare the input data input_data = { "text": "What are the benefits of renewable energy?" } # Make the API request response = requests.post(local_url, json=input_data) # Print the model's response if response.status_code == 200: print("Model Response:", response.json()) else: print("Error:", response.status_code, response.text) Comparing Language Capabilities Test Results: How Phi-3.5 Handles Different Languages The Phi-3.5 model demonstrates robust multilingual capabilities, effectively processing and generating text in various languages. Below are comparative examples showcasing its performance in English, Spanish, and Mandarin: English Example: Input: "What are the benefits of renewable energy?" Output: "Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability." Spanish Example: Input: "¿Cuáles son los beneficios de la energía renovable?" Output: "Las fuentes de energía renovable, como la solar y la eólica, reducen las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y promueven la sostenibilidad." Mandarin Example: Input: "可再生能源的好处是什么？" Output: "可再生能源，如太阳能和风能，减少温室气体排放，促进可持续发展。" Performance Benchmarking and Evaluation Across Different Languages Benchmarking Phi-3.5 across different languages involves evaluating its accuracy, fluency, and contextual understanding. For instance, using BLEU scores and human evaluations, the model can be assessed on its translation quality and coherence in various languages. Real-World Use Case: Multilingual Customer Service Chatbot A practical application of Phi-3.5's multilingual capabilities is in developing a customer service chatbot that can interact with users in their preferred language. For instance, the chatbot could provide support in English, Spanish, and Mandarin, ensuring a wider reach and better user experience. Optimizing and Validating Phi-3.5 Model Model Performance Metrics To validate the model's performance in different scenarios, consider the following metrics: Accuracy: Measure how often the model's outputs are correct or align with expected results. Fluency: Assess the naturalness and readability of the generated text. Contextual Understanding: Evaluate how well the model understands and responds to context-specific queries. Tools to Use in Azure and Ollama for Evaluation Azure Cognitive Services: Utilize tools like Text Analytics and Translator to evaluate performance. Ollama: Use local testing environments to quickly iterate and validate model outputs. Conclusion In summary, Phi-3.5 exhibits impressive multilingual capabilities, effective deployment options, and robust performance metrics. Its ability to handle various languages makes it a versatile tool for natural language processing applications. Phi-3.5 stands out for its adaptability and performance in multilingual contexts, making it an excellent choice for future NLP projects, especially those requiring diverse language support. We encourage readers to experiment with the Phi-3.5 model using Azure AI Foundry or the AI Toolkit, explore fine-tuning techniques for their specific use cases, and share their findings with the community. For more information on optimized fine-tuning techniques, check out the Ignite Fine-Tuning Workshop. References Customize the Phi-3.5 family of models with LoRA fine-tuning in Azure Fine-tune Phi-3.5 models in Azure Fine Tuning with Azure AI Foundry and Microsoft Olive Hands on Labs and Workshop Customize a model with fine-tuning https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/how-to/fine-tuning?tabs=azure-openai%2Cturbo%2Cpython-new&pivots=programming-language-studio Microsoft AI Toolkit - AI Toolkit for VSCodeFine-Tune and Integrate Custom Phi-3 Models with Prompt Flow in Azure AI Studio
Phi-3 is a family of small language models (SLMs) developed by Microsoft that delivers exceptional performance and cost-effectiveness. In this tutorial, you will learn how to fine-tune the Phi-3 model and integrate the custom Phi-3 model with Prompt flow in Azure AI Studio. By leveraging Azure AI / ML Studio, you will establish a workflow for deploying and utilizing custom AI models.Fine-Tune and Integrate Custom Phi-3 Models with Prompt Flow: Step-by-Step Guide
In this tutorial, you will learn how to fine-tune the Phi-3 model and integrate it with Prompt Flow. By leveraging Azure Machine Learning, and Prompt flow you will establish a workflow for deploying and utilizing custom AI models.
